Previewing Justified

I never understood why some actors whine about being typecast especially if you are typecast as a character where there is an overabundance of like cops. Thankfully Timothy Olyphant apparently doesn’t care about being typecast because just four years after playing Sherriff Seth Bullock on Deadwood, Olyphant is back on the small screen as another lawman for the latest FX series, Justified.

Olyphant does get to fast forward to the twenty-first century with Justified (well considering the show is set in rural Kentucky, it may seem just the twentieth) and is upgraded to a Deputy U.S. Marshall, but after a shooting in his cushy Miami station gets shipped back to his Lexington home much to his chagrin which just happens to also be the landing place of his ex wife, played by Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money), and her new husband.

Getting to hang around the water cooler with Olyphant include Nick Searcy (The Ugly Truth) as the Chief Deputy of the Lexington Office and shared time with Olyphant training firearms at the Marshals’ training facility. Jacobs Pitts (Eurotrip, no seriously, this is the same floppy haired dude from that movie) the show’s token War vet, because what show in the past couple years hasn’t featured someone that has fought in either Iraq or Afghanistan? Rounding out the group is Erica Tazel (Jericho).

Though there are no advisories as great as Al Swearengen, or even George Hearst for that matter, the antagonists, with their bazooka and swastika tattoos, are creepier than anything in Deadwood. The group is lead by Walter Goggins (House of a 1000 Corpses) whose brother has just been killed by his wife (Joelle Carter, High Fidelity) who just so happens to be cozying up to the recently returned Olyphant.

With Olyphant at the lead, you would think Justified would shy away from Deadwood comparisons, but there are plenty to have, and that is a good think. Much like Bullock, he still is the quickest, and most accurate, draw in the West. And with a network that seems to revel in leads that like to deal in shades of grey (Tommy Gavin, Jax Teller, Vic Mackey), Olyphant continues to have a strong moral compass and only draws when he needs to and still has the muted rage that Bullock did.

Justified is easily one of the best new shows of the season. The only problem is that it shares a time slot with one of the stiffest competition for that title, Parenthood.

Justified airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on FX.